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The Newsletter of the Family Records Centre (FRC)
Issue 37 - January 2007

Prize Competition
Kew 2008 Update
GRO Service Targets
New to the FRC?
Irish Family History Conference
What's on at the FRC

Closure Dates

2007
Friday 6 April to Monday 9 April (inclusive)
Monday 7 May
Monday 28 May
Monday 27 August
Tuesday 25 December & Wednesday 26 December

2008
Tuesday 1 January

GRO Indexes Online From 2008

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has announced that facilities to search its new indexes of births, marriages and deaths will start to be available on the internet from early 2008.

ONS intends to close its public search facility at the FRC. The National Archives (TNA) announced last year that it intends to relocate to Kew the facilities it currently provides at the FRC. This means that the FRC as a whole will close by the end of March 2008.

Because the new electronic indexes will not be fully complete when the changes take place, those indexes which have yet to be digitised will be made available at TNA in Kew for a short period. This will ensure that customers will continue to have access to all the indexes by one means or another. Current plans are for the new indexes to be completed in 2009.

The indexes to overseas births, marriages and deaths, which are not part of ONS's current digitisation plans, will also be made available at Kew.

TNA and ONS will be working closely together to plan for the move and to ensure that high quality services continue to be provided for all our customers.

Prize Competition

The FRC bookshop is offering three copies of Mark Pearsall's Family History Companion as prizes in our new competition. To win a copy, simply answer the following question.

Hardwicke's Marriage Act brought an end to the practice of 'Clandestine Marriages' in England and Wales. But in what year was the Act passed?

a) 1689
b) 1753
c) 1812
d) 1836

Answers by email to: frc@nationalarchives.gov.uk with the word 'Competition' in the subject heading. One entry per person please. The closing date for entries is Friday 30 March 2007.

Last October's prizes (3 copies of State Secrets) were won by Kenneth Mankell, Eric Probert and Shaun Wallace, who correctly named Anthony Eden as the statesman who made the BBC broadcast which ultimately led to the formation of the Home Guard.

For the Record...

A new website www.histpop.org.uk has just been launched, providing access to hundreds of official documents relating to the history of civil registration and the taking of the censuses. The documents can help family historians to understand the processes behind the creation of the records and can help to explain why they are not always as accurate as we would like them to be.

One of the most interesting finds is a list of 64 people onboard HMS Cygnet who are missing from the 1901 census. An accompanying letter states that "The Commanding Officer of that Ship was furnished with an Enumeration Book, but it is not known whether it was duly sent in.". A full list of the missing names is now available at the FRC and at The National Archives, in Kew.

Kew 2008

Meetings were held at the FRC and Kew in January 2007 to present the plans for the service to be offered at Kew in 2008. These plans have been approved by the Kew 2008 User Advisory Group.

A number of questions were raised at the FRC meeting on 18 January.

Q: Will the opening hours at Kew be extended?
A: We have no plans to change the current hours.

Q: Will we still need reader's tickets to use Kew?
A: Only to consult original documents.

Q: Will the FRC family history talks be continued at Kew?
A: Yes, we plan to have a dedicated talks room within the reading room and daily talks.

Q: Will there be more car parking spaces at Kew?
A: Probably not. It is government policy to discourage use of private cars. We may provide an extra coach bay, and we plan to lift the current restrictions on numbers of coach parties.

Q: Will all the FRC computers go to Kew?
A: Yes, and it may be necessary to provide even more.

Q: Will other record series such as PROB 6, PROB 8 and IR 26 be digitised?
A: These are included in TNA's digitisation programme.

Q: How big will the open reading room at Kew be, and how dense will the seating be?
A: It will be bigger than the FRC reading room, with similar density.

Q: How much disruption will there be to services at Kew while the changes are made?
A: We will keep disruption to a minimum, though it may be necessary to close for a short period.

Q: Are all FRC (TNA) staff going to Kew?
A: They have all been offered a job and we hope that as many as possible will transfer to Kew.

Q: Will the service at Kew be as user-friendly as the FRC?
A: That is our intention.

1911 Census

Following a recent decision by the Information Commissioner, TNA is now providing a basic research service to enable you to request information from specific addresses in the 1911 census.

To request a search, you will need to provide:

• House name or number / Building name / Vessel name
• County
• Civil Parish

Requests cannot be processed without this information. This is a charged service and the cost is currently £45 per address search. TNA is not able to offer refunds on unsuccessful searches.

A fully indexed online service should be available from 2009. For more details and to request a search, please visit: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/1911census.

FRC Open Meeting November 2006

The following is a selection of the questions raised by customers at the last FRC open meeting:

Q: Is the project to digitise the BMD indexes on target?
A: Yes, there have been some technical problems but the project should be completed in 2009. GRO will start using the new system to produce certificates in January 2007, although only a small percentage of the records will have been digitised by then. There will be no change as far as customers are concerned, except the cut-off point for placing orders in the searchroom is changing from 5pm to 4pm.

Q: Could a list of registration districts be made available online?
A: We will look into whether such a list could be put onto the GRO website. However, there are already useful lists available on the FreeBMD and Genuki websites.

Q: Is it possible to be given the information on certificates which do not match specified checkpoints?
A: No, as the law currently stands GRO can only provide the information on a certificate if it is purchased.

Q: What can be done to prevent certificates getting mangled in the post?
A: From January 2007 onwards certificates will be folded and sent in A5 envelopes. This is mainly in order to reduce costs but it should also help to alleviate this problem.

Q: Will anything be done to improve the physical condition of the handwritten index volumes?
A: No, they can already be consulted online and on microfiche, and will soon be replaced by the new digitised index.

Q: Where was this meeting advertised?
A: It was advertised onsite and on the FRC website. It was not mentioned in the last issue of the Family Record, for which we apologise.

The next FRC Open Meeting will take place on Wednesday 2 May 2007 at 12.30.

GRO Service Targets

Each month performance is measured against a number of targets. The following table details General Register Office performance for the period October to December 2006 in some of the areas monitored. The target set for each area is for 95% of applications to be processed in the set number of days recorded in the table:

This quarter, as the table shows, GRO has been successful in meeting its targets in all but one of these areas.

2006 GRO Customer Survey

Each year, the General Register Office (GRO) conducts a customer survey asking a variety of questions, the results of which are analysed and used as part of a continuous programme of improvements to customer service.  This year we asked 4,000 customers who applied for their certificates by post, by telephone, online and in person at the FRC. 1,772 forms (44.4%) were returned.

• 72% of those who responded order certificates online at: www.gro.gov.uk.  This compares to 45% in 2004
• Just over 90% applied for a certificate for family history research purposes 72% stated that ordering certificates is an all year hobby
• Nearly 95% of those who responded stated that they order their certificates using a GRO index reference

The full results of the survey, which includes annual comparison of surveys from 2001, will be published on the GRO website in the near future.

Ancestors Event at Kew

An afternoon of talks from Ancestors magazine's most respected family and local historians will be held at The National Archives, Kew on 22 February 2007, from 2pm to 5pm.

Admission is free but places must be booked in advance. Please phone (020) 8392 5271 or email: cdegatacre@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

Ancestors On Board

A new website has recently been launched by findmypast.com, in association with The National Archives. Ancestorsonboard allows you to search for people leaving the UK for destinations such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, South Africa and USA. Images of the passenger lists are available to download, view, save and print. Records are currently available for the years 1890 to 1899.

Ancestorsonboard is free to use onsite at the FRC and at Kew.

New Books From The National Archives

Four new titles on offer this spring from The National Archives:

Workhouse: The people, the places, the life behind doors - Simon Fowler (£18.99); January 2007

This popular and accessible history conducts a full tour of the workhouse from 1696 to 1948, drawing on personal stories, investigations and reports, contemporary ballads and even graffiti to bring the institution vividly to life.

Family History Companion: Fast forward your family history search - Mark Pearsall (£7.99); February 2007

Practical and portable, this easy to use A-Z handbook draws on the expertise of The National Archives to offer new insight into family history as it is practised today.

Family History in the Genes: Trace your DNA and grow your family tree - Chris Pomery (£7.99); March 2007

From the latest discoveries in the big surname studies to advice on starting your own DNA project, this is a fascinating introduction to a topic that will dominate future family history research.

Family History in the Wars: How your ancestors served their country - William Spencer (£7.99); April 2007

Easy-to-use, one-stop guide to your ancestor's wartime past; covers Army, Navy and Air Force, merchant seamen, female auxiliary and nursing units.

All our books are available from the shops at the Family Records Centre and The National Archives, Kew, and from all good bookshops throughout the country. They can also be purchased by telephoning 01904 431213 or online from: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/bookshop.

The Chart

The current top sellers in the FRC bookshop:

1. My Family Tree Book
2. The Family & Local History Handbook (10th edition)
3. The Genealogist's Internet - Peter Christian
4. Reading Old Handwriting - Eve McLaughlin
5. Family History on the Web - Stuart Raymond

New to the FRC?

During February and March we will be piloting a new service for visitors to the Family Records Centre.

From Monday 5 February, for a period of four weeks, we will be holding a series of drop-in sessions aimed at helping first-time visitors and newcomers to family history research to get the best out of the facilities available at the FRC. There's no need to book - simply come to the Meetings Room on the first floor at 11.30 on one of the following days:

February: Monday 5, Thursday 8, Saturday 10, Monday 12, Thursday 15, Saturday 17, Monday 19, Thursday 22, Saturday 24, Monday 26

March: Thursday 1, Saturday 3

The sessions will last approximately 30 minutes.

Family History Surgeries

We are now taking bookings for Family History Surgeries up until the end of July 2007. If you're still trying to get over that brick wall, why not give us a call and book a one-to-one session with one of our expert family historians?

Across The Irish Sea

Following the success of our first family history conference last September we are proud to announce another major event, taking place on Saturday 10 March.

The Family Records Centre has joined forces with Tourism Ireland and the British Postal Museum & Archive to bring you a one-day conference dedicated to tracing Irish ancestry.

The day will feature lectures from some of the biggest names in Irish family history (including John Grenham, Paul Gorry and Michael Gandy) and will cover sources for research on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Tickets for the event are £20 each and are available now.

For more details, or to book your place at the conference, please contact us today.

Please note that the conference will be held at the Phoenix Centre in Mount Pleasant (a few minutes walk from the FRC).

We're Talking To You - in association with Ancestors Magazine

There's another full programme of talks coming up at the FRC this Spring.

All talks start at 2pm. Saturday talks are in italics.

• 3 Feb - Tracing Your Ancestors at the FRC
• 6 Feb - Family History Sources at Kew
• 13 Feb - Workhouse Records for Family Historians
• 20 Feb - Overseas Records at the FRC
• 27 Feb - Tracing Your Ancestors at Hertfordshire Archives
• 3 Mar - Introduction to Family History
• 6 Mar - Tracing Merchant Seamen
• 13 Mar - Tracing Your Ancestors at the FRC
• 20 Mar - Census Returns Online
• 27 Mar - The Making of the GRO Indexes
• 3 Apr - Army Ancestors (Other Ranks) 1760-1918
• [7 Apr - FRC closed for Easter Holidays]
• 10 Apr - Ancestors in British India
• 17 Apr - Choosing a Genealogy Package
• 24 Apr - 'Merrie Islington': A Guided Walk
• 1 May - Nationality & Citizenship
• 5 May - Family History on the Internet

Please note: Tickets for the talks are free and can be collected on the day of the event from the New Customers desk on the first floor. Places are strictly limited. Tickets will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis and cannot be booked in advance.

Further information

If you would like more information about any of the items in this newsletter please telephone us on 0845 603 7788 (GRO enquiries) or 0208 392 5300 (TNA enquiries). You can also email us at:

frc@nationalarchives.gov.uk

or visit our website at:

www.familyrecords.gov.uk/frc

To subscribe to the electronic version of the Family Record please send an email with the word 'Subscribe' in the subject heading to:

FRC-Newsletter@nationalarchives.gov.uk

The Family Record is jointly produced by the General Register Office (GRO) and The National Archives (TNA)